Seed phrase unavailable — software wallet 2020

Survives

Case description

An estate case from November 2020 involves a living but incapacitated person whose power of attorney holder discovered the person's seed phrase was stored in a file labelled 'banking information' on a cloud drive. The cloud account required a 2FA code sent to the incapacitated person's phone, which was locked with a biometric that could not be bypassed.

Custody context

Stress condition	Seed phrase unavailable
Custody system	Mobile or software wallet
Outcome	Survives
Documentation	Unknown
Year observed	2020
Country	Unknown

Structural dependencies observed

Single point of failureThird-party platform dependency

Outcome interpretation

Access remained possible under the reported conditions.

Source

Publicly Reported

Evidence type

Forum post

Evidence link

https://medium.com/@wayne_huang/rsa-2015-panel-bitcoin-s-future-threats-expert-s-roundtable-based-on-150-case-studies-92cc35e68e30

Related cases involving seed phrase unavailable

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This archive documents observed custody survivability failures. It does not attempt to document all Bitcoin losses or security incidents. Submit a case

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Framework references

Where Bitcoin Custody Intersects Legal and Fiduciary Authority

Where custody creates gaps in estate planning, fiduciary duty, and professional responsibility.

Professional Scope Boundary Matrix

What each professional or product covers, what they do not, and where gaps form between them.

The Independent Assessment Layer in Bitcoin Custody

How independent diagnostic layers emerge when multiple parties depend on shared infrastructure.